


Beat Salesman

by lantadyme



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-08
Updated: 2011-03-08
Packaged: 2017-10-16 04:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/168466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lantadyme/pseuds/lantadyme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He invites her into the city for a few days. Yeah, he has a reason, but mostly he just wants to spend time with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beat Salesman

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a Valentine's exchange pinch hit for [retrodynamics](http://retrodynamics.tumblr.com/).

TA: hey are you bu2y?  
TA: liike iin the next two day2??  
TA: ii 2ort of need two a2k you a favor?   
AA: 0h what is it  
AA: s0llux are y0u planning s0mething  
AA: s0mething exciting ive been h0ping y0u w0uld f0r a while   
TA: uh,  
TA: iit2 2ort of exciitiing but ii dont thiink iit2 what youre iimagiiniing riight now, aa.  
TA: ii 2tiill cant come vii2iit you, 2orry.   
AA: aw its 0kay  
AA: but why d0 y0u need a fav0r that lasts tw0 days   
TA: you know how iive been workiing on thii2 weiird 2ide project game thiing two maybe 2ell two one of the iindependent developer2?  
TA: well uh,  
TA: a couple miinute2 ago they emaiiled me back.  
TA: 2aying 2ome 2hiit about theyre iintere2ted iin buyiing iit maybe??  
TA: which probably wont actually happen but they iinviited me two 2top by 2ome local game2how two talk wiith a company repre2entatiive???   
AA: 0h my g00dness s0llux!   
TA: and ii dont really want two go alone becau2e iive heard rumor2 of troll2 gettiing 2hanked by competiitiion at the2e thiing2.   
AA: !!!   
TA: 2o um, would you miind comiing iintwo the ciity and watchiing my back for thii2??   
AA: !!!!!!!!!!   
TA: ehehehehe, 2o many 2hout pole2.  
TA: iim gue22iing youre exciited.   
AA: yes!  
AA: and im pretty sure y0ure excited t00 right  
AA: w0w that is really an h0n0r   
TA: eh ii gue22.  
TA: iit wa2 mo2tly me diickiing around wiith 2ome gamiing engiine2 and 2hiit.    
AA: n0! n0ne of that self depreciating stuff s0llux!  
AA: y0u did s0mething initiative and pe0ple are rec0gnizing y0u f0r it  
AA: that is a legitimate reas0n t0 be excited   
TA: ehehe, yeah.  
TA: and even iif they dont want iit, iit2 2tiil good experiience.   
AA: see y0u can l00k at the bright side s0metimes!   
TA: lol  
TA: 2top iit, youre iinfectiiou2 liike thii2.  
TA: ii am actually 2miiliing riight now, aa. youre ruiiniing my reputatiion.   
AA: just as planned    
TA: 2o youll come iin?   
AA: yes i will leave as s00n as p0ssible  
AA: when d0es it start   
TA: miidniight tomorrow  
TA: whiich ii2 why iim a2kiing you and not 2omeone wiith codiing experiience liike kk.  
TA: no way he can 2how up iin tiime.  
TA: al2o youre 2tronger fiirepower than that u2ele22 grubkiicker anyway.  
TA: and uh,  
TA: ii 2ort of mii22 you.   
AA: haha y0ure s0 cute s0metimes s0llux   
TA: oh god, dont 2tart wiith that.   
AA: 0kay! i will g0 pack instead  
AA: pr0mise ill be there ar0und sec0nd m00nrise!  
AA: 0u0

\---

She raps gently on his window, the city a near mile below her feet. It takes him a second to answer but he waves at her through the glass as he goes to unlock it and Aradia smiles, waving back. She watches him heave at the window three times without a budge, and then his face screws up in frustration as he just wrenches it open with his psionics instead.

"Thtupid thing alwayth jamth," he mutters under his breath, motioning Aradia inside.

As he closes the window again Aradia looks him over and laughs to herself. They've only met in person twice so far but both those times he'd been dressed in his usual outfit. This time he's wearing fancy black pinstripe dress pants and a plain black dress shirt mostly covered by the fine knit of a red-and-blue argyle sweater vest that he obviously took the time to press the wrinkles out of.

"Oh wow, I've never seen you so dressed up, Sollux. I didn't know you even had nice clothes."

He rubs at the back of his neck as a light blush creeps across his cheeks. "I do. Thometimeth my hacking thtuff thellth and I have to look prethentable." He shrugs. "I kind of thent KN a bunch of phototh of my wardrobe and athked her what would work betht."

Aradia grins. "You look very professional." She glances down at her own clothes, and they're not shabby but they're not brand new either. "I hope I don't make you look bad."

"Shit, AA, you could never make me look bad," he says quietly, still blushing. After a moment he walks back over to his computer desk and starts shoving grubs and papers and other coding paraphernalia into a Gemini-branded briefcase. "I'm almotht ready here, jutht have to get all my thtuff together."

Aradia follows him, peeking over his shoulder. She has a pack of her own stuff on her back, mostly full of spare clothes and her whip, plus an old shed scale from her lusus for luck. She sets the pack down next to his beehives and tucks the scale into her pocket before looping the whip at her side.

"Do you want me to carry anything for you?" she asks, hovering behind him again.

"No, I got it." Sollux slides a super-thin husktop into the briefcase and clicks the thing shut, standing up straight. He seems to be looking everywhere at once, running everything through his head to make sure he hasn't forgotten anything, and then he resettles his glasses and looks over to Aradia, a little smile on his face. "Okay, I think I'm ready."

\---

The convention center is half-empty when Sollux pushes his way through the glass doors, Aradia on his heels. Even half empty it's full of more trolls than Aradia's ever seen in her life before. She's spent every sweep out in the far country meeting only the people she's played FLARP with, and this is something else entirely. It's a lowblooded crowded rainbow in the building, limebloods and ocherbloods and rustbloods and everything in between, nearly half of them with some sort of psychic ability that Aradia can feel in her bones. Trolls aren't supposed to live this close together or amass in hundreds like this and she loops an arm around Sollux' and sticks warily to his side.

"I can see why the cities have such a reputation for being full of danger," she whispers, glancing up at him.

It takes him a confused moment to respond, like he hadn't even noticed the murderous tension in the air, but then he nods. "Yeah, it'th kind of a powderkeg motht of the time. Long ath you don't act thcared you should be fine." He gives her a troubled look and glances around. "You could totally trash anyone in here, AA. Don't worry."

Aradia smiles because she already knows that. The voices in her head told her that before they walked in the door. "Don't fuss over me, Sollux. You have a game to sell!"

He nods and relaxes and puts his game face back on.

It takes a while to elbow through the crowds. Different companies are set up all over the massive room with grubs and computers everywhere, trolls testing games or buying them or just arguing openly in the middle of clearings with weapons drawn.

They eventually make it over to the booth Sollux is looking for. It's a smaller thing, this company not as huge as some of them. Sollux doesn't pause though, dropping Aradia's hand and walking up to one of the salestrolls. He stands there with his eyes hidden by his glasses, briefcase in one hand in the spitting image of the composed businessman, and Aradia stands slightly behind him, eyeing the crowds with a hand resting casually on the handle of her whip. She isn't a gamer. She doesn't play anything other than FLARP, and she feels a bit out of place even though she's only here for moral support and to act as Sollux' body guard.

He talks to the salestroll and she doesn't even raise an eyebrow to his lisp. Aradia doesn't really understand the computer jargon they throw back and forth for a few minutes, but she knows what "side scrolling shooter" means and that the girl has played his demo and is impressed by the "innovative scoring system" and the "weapon shift dynamics." Sollux smirks a little and his voice is as level and professional as ever, but Aradia can tell just by looking at him that he's practically vibrating with enthusiasm.

"Arright, Mr. Captor," the salestroll says eventually, grinning and holding out a hand. "We're definitely interested, but we need more than one level for the game. Throw in a swamp area and some other stuff and you're golden. You seem pretty upstanding and polished too, so I can probably see if we can get you some funding to develop a few more. Sound good?"

"Thoundth good," he says, shaking her hand. "I'll shoot off another email later today." He pops his briefcase and hands her an extra demo grub, and then he meets Aradia's eye and heads off into the crowd again.

She follows slowly, catching up to his longer stride after a moment, and when she slips her hand into his again he glances to the side and grins so wide. "Oh my god, AA. I haven't thold anything in perthon like that in a long time. She actually thought I wath cool!"

Aradia giggles. "You _are_ cool, Sollux."

"I guethh I'd convinthed mythelf that you were the only one who thought that."

She shakes her head and untangles her fingers from his, slipping her arm around him in a hug instead. "I hear whispers from the future all the time. I don't know why you don't believe everything I say as solid fact by now."

He laughs and shrugs. "Yeah. Hey, you want to go get ithcream?"

Actual ice cream in a parlor and everything? "Yes!"

Sollux snickers at her glee and pulls her by the hand toward the convention center doors. "Awethome."

\---

Aradia licks her peach ice cream slowly and savors it. The city is still huge and dangerous around them, psychic power pressing in from all sides, but she ignores it and watches Sollux instead. He's still smiling, nursing his own cone of sweets, and Aradia guesses that this is the longest she's ever seen him go without putting himself down. She likes it. She loops her arm through his again and leans against the railing of the bridge they're standing on, watching the hot river trace off into the distance underneath.

When she glances over again he's smiling at her and Aradia beams back.

"No one attacked you back there. I think this was all a big ploy to get me to come visit you."

He blushes a little, not wanting to admit it. "I _have_ heard thtories of people getting thtabbed."

"Powerful psionic yellowblood hackers?" she asks, teasing.

"No, none of thothe," he mutters back innocently.

Aradia leans her head against his shoulder, and she could tease him all day about it, but she's a bit too happy right now. Happy to be with him and happy that he's on an emotional upswing too. "Well, thank you for inviting me. I've had a good time so far."

"I'm glad." The fact that he feels likewise doesn't need to be said.


End file.
